iPhone Blacklist Removal Methods: How to Unblacklist a Phone

One of the worst thing that can happen to you when buying a refurbished iPhone without IMEI checking it first, is to purchase a blacklisted iPhone. Since you are searching how to unblacklist a phone (especially an iPhone), you are reading the right post because I will tell you everything about it.

It doesn’t matter if until now you thought that removing an iPhone from the blacklist is impossible. There are so many scammers out there with fake services.

What is the Blacklist

Everything started in Europe in 2004. Something had to be done with tracking down stolen mobiles and preventing thieves from using or selling them. The GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications) created the very first GSM database.

Canada created CWTA (Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association) database in 2013 and the USA joined in after a while, finally developing CTIA database (Cellular Telephone Industries Association) which integrated international blacklist databases.

Why an iPhone gets blacklisted

When an iPhone:

is reported as lost or stolen to the Wireless Network by the original owner

is acquired through fraud

is flagged as replaced (due to an Insurance Claimor unauthorized hardware replacement)

when the original owner doesn’t pay the contract bills

will become blacklisted and lose its CLEAN status.

Sometimes it may take a while before an iPhone gets blacklisted, but it will happen in the end.

What happens to a blacklisted Phone

As soon as the iPhone enters a country’s blacklist database, it won’t be activated on any national Cellular Network until it becomes CLEAN again.

At first, the iPhone was blacklisted only inside the national Blacklist Database of the Carrier’s country. Since 2013, more and more countries started sharing their blacklists (with USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico being the first ones) so nowadays, an iPhone can become blacklisted in multiple neighboring countries.

How blacklisting works

All cell phones are stored inside the GSMA Device Database (and other similar IMEI Databases like CTIA) with their IMEI number. Every phone has a unique 15 digit IMEI number, 8 digits are the TAC emanating to all mobile brand owners and the 7-digits are added by the original equipment manufacturers.When a blacklisting reason occurs, the iPhone’s IMEI number will be put inside a Blacklist.

Tools you can use to check if a Phone is blacklisted

Certified IMEI Check providers have authorized access to IMEI Databases and deliver instantly and accurately the following info:

SIM Lock Status

SIM Blocking Cellular Network Identification

Blacklist Status

Why the iPhone was blacklisted

Witch Carrier and inside what Country it was blacklisted

iCloud Activation Lock Status

Contract Status

Financial Balance Status

Warranty Status

Replacement Status

iPhone Specification

Specific iPhone Unlocking Solutions for your iPhone

You won’t be able to unblacklist a Phone or at least Carrier unlock it without this data. Next time you will purchase a second-hand iPhone try using an IMEI Check service before you buy it. There is no way of getting scammed anymore in buying a faulty smartphone.

Guide on How to unblacklist a Phone based on the IMEI Check results

Depending on what you found out with the IMEI Checker there are specific iPhone Unlocking methods to use. So which are they?

1. How to unblacklist a Phone when there are pending contract bills

In this case, things might look easy but they aren’t. Just getting in touch with the Telecoms Network that barred the iPhone and finding out the exact amount of money owed by the previous owner in order to pay for it won’t happen.

I am not sure why Mobile Networks do this but unfortunately, a phone with unpaid bills can’t be unblacklisted with only one exception: Sprint USA Network.

If you own a Sprint iPhone with unpaid bills then there is a solution in the next paragraph.

2. How to unblacklist a Phone when it is stolen, lost or fraud

As I said from the beginning of this article, an iPhone will be extracted from the Blacklist only when the reason it was blacklisted no longer applies. This means that the original owner must report that the iPhone was found and I don’t believe this is an option for you.

You can always contact the Mobile Network and give the iPhone back to the original owner but on the other hand, someone scammed you into buying it.

Anyway, you can find many iPhone Blacklist Removal Software that promise to unblacklist any iPhone from any Carrier but unfortunately, this is not true.

Take for example this dude on this video. We are dealing with a pure scam because iPhones don’t get unlocked or unblacklisted with SIM Unlock codes.

We test all iPhone Unlocking Services on a monthly basis and the only working Unblacklist iPhone services right now are specifically for T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint USA Mobile Networks.

Can you SIM Unlock a Blacklisted iPhone?

A few years ago an iPhone was blacklisted only inside one country. If you were able to network unlock a barred iPhone it would work everywhere except the country it was blacklisted. You could use this iPhone as a travel phone or sell it to another country as unlocked.

Now some nations share their blacklists and it is not sure where you will be able to use or sell a blacklisted iPhone as Unlocked (without scamming the person who will buy it).

Carrier Unlocking a blacklisted iPhone is possible and I suggest you reading this article to find out more and avoid using a SIM Unlocking Service before understanding the issues you might have.

Hey, I am Makis. I am a Chemical Engineer and as it’s natural, I was fascinated with iPhone technology since the release of the original iPhone. In 2013, I bought a used iPhone from an online market but it turned to be locked and I didn’t know what to do in order to use my SIM Card. Despite being a tech freak, I spent too much money and time trying out fake services and iOS exploits until I found UltraSnow.EU and managed to unlock my iPhone with success. Soon afterward I became part of the team in order to help people like me through Quora or here and right now iPhone Unlocking is my cup of tea!